Tim Tebow: an end but not The End

Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow prays with New England Patriots and Broncos team members following their NFL divisional playoff. Photograph: Charles Krupa/AP

On September 27, 2008, Tim Tebow did something truly extraordinary. He lost a football game. Tebow was a junior then and had won the Heisman Trophy the previous year as college football's most outstanding player, the first time a sophomore had ever been given the award. On this particular Saturday, his fourth-ranked Florida Gators were favorites to win another national championship when Ole Miss came to Gainesville for an SEC matchup. And as 22-point underdogs, the Rebels should have been Gator bait.

Instead, with less than a minute to play, Florida trailed 31-30. Facing fourth and 1 on the Ole Miss 32, everyone in The Swamp knew what was coming next. Tebow would call his own number, keep the ball, and go straight up the middle for the first down. The Rebels knew it too, obviously, and smothered Tebow in the backfield. Florida turned the ball over on downs, and Ole Miss took a few knees and ran out the clock for the victory.

Then the remarkable part happened.

At the post-game press conference, with his blue eyes still red from crying and his voice cracking, Tebow apologized for his performance. He was 24-of-38 that day, with 319 passing yards and two rushing TDs, but he had gained only 7 yards on the ground, including one fumble.

"I just want to say one thing to the fans—and everybody in Gator Nation," Tebow began, "I'm sorry. I'm extremely sorry. We were hoping for an undefeated season, that was my goal. It's something Florida has never done here. I promise you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season. You will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season. And you will never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season. God bless."

.The moment became known as The Promise, and Tebow, the quarterback who wears his faith on his eye black, made good on his word. The Gators didn't lose another regular-season game, and went on to win the SEC Championship against Alabama and then the BCS Championship against Oklahoma. And that spring, to commemorate their 13-1 season, Florida coach Urban Meyer had Tebow's speech engraved on a plaque, where it's still mounted at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium—The Tim Commandments.

Not to take anything away from what Denver's Hall of Fame quarterback can do for Tebow, but Elway has nothing to worry about. If the Parable of the Promise teaches us anything, it's that Tim Tebow is more than just a winner—he is humble. And that's where his true greatness comes from.

So go ahead and mock his evangelical beliefs, for being a missionary who's never tried missionary. Laugh at his inability to complete 50% of his passes. And keep saying that he doesn't have the football skills to win a Super Bowl. He'll only try that much harder next time, like a 240-pound puppy that just wants to please.